John Strang

The Masterpeace (2020 Reissue)


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25 copies were privately made in 1968 by the 17 year old strang, who carried them home from the studio several miles in a rucksack on foot. very few survive today, and it is a little understood LP. The title refers to nuclear armageddon and the total death of all life, not a hippie idyll, and the songs are apocalyptic poetry that confront the cold war, hiroshima and nagasaki, platonic forms and the nature of reality, there are also a few explicit drug references to lsd and amphetamines. this darkness of intent makes the lp exceptional for the time, and seminal. musically it draws from donovan and the incredible string band , at times becoming experimental, and yet with an air of fragility that predicts vashti bunyans lp made two years later. john strang denys to compose privately to this day, but walked away from a Transatlantic Records deal in the early 70s to pursue a career in Psychiatry, for which he was knighted. A concept lp about mental illness was due for release on Transatlantic, which we are currently restoring from surviving tapes and cassettes, entitled “Shame and Stigma” it is forthcoming. Full lyrics included which demand careful reading, plus an insert explaining the lp written by the artist himself.

Tracklist

A1        Village School
A2        Seagull No.3   
A3        Late In The Day          
A4        Dreams          
A5        Madame Bartholemew         
A6        Acid Albatross
A7        Little Fat Man
A8        Butterfly         
A9        Ge-Bomb        

B1        Masterpeace 1           
B2        Twisted Tree  
B3        Swallow No.7 
B4        He Was Only A Child  
B5        Blistered Blades Of Grass      
B6        No Money To Pay       
B7        Love Grew In The Night         
B8        Little Anna      
B9        Masterpeace 2